Rachel Takes Flight

Hollywood's 'it' girl thrills us in latest Wes Craven film

August 18, 2005|By Miki Turner, a Redeye Special Contributor.

LOS ANGELES — Rachel McAdams knows that this is the summer of her contentment.

The Canadian-born actress, whose breakthrough came last year with "Mean Girls," has been hotter than South Beach in August this summer, with starring turns in "Wedding Crashers" and the highly anticipated Wes Craven thriller "Red Eye," which opens Friday.

"Red Eye" is quite a departure from her usual family-friendly fare, but McAdams, who plays an airline passenger held captive by the assassin sitting next to her, is happy to leave the girl-next-door image, well, next door.

"There are other things to do," she told RedEye this week.

What lies ahead, however, is as much a mystery to the 28-year-old as the twists and turns in "Red Eye" will be to audiences. And McAdams, winner of several MTV Movie and Teen Choice awards this year for her turns in "Mean Girls" and "The Notebook," appears to like it that way.

"Yeah, I don't know," McAdams said when asked how she envisions her career. "I think it will appear to me as it unfolds. But I want to keep working and I want to keep experimenting. That's the nicest thing about this year in particular--it's that I've gotten to do so many different genres and that people have faith in letting me do something that I normally wouldn't be allowed to do. That's exciting. I hope I get to keep doing that."

"Red Eye" appealed to McAdams on several levels. One, she's a fan of thrillers. Two, she wanted to work with Craven. And three, she was thrilled to take that leap of faith into the unknown.

"I'm trying to do things that make sense to me--things that I'm excited about," McAdams said. "I think if you're excited, that comes across, and your performance is inevitably going to be better if you feel passionate and can remember why you did it in the first place, because you're going to have those rough days when you're like 'What are we doing? Is this going to work out? I'm totally sucking today!'

"But hopefully because I love it, other people will too."

So far, she's made the right choices at the right times. But she refuses to believe her own hype because she feels it's "dangerous to see yourself the way other people do."

"If [stardom] it doesn't happen, I'll be incredibly disappointed. So, I guess I just try to enjoy it now, and you try and do things that speak to (me) and hopefully it will all work out. I have faith in the universe."

All of the "it girl" buzz, however, has made McAdams a little nervous. She said she's unwilling to make the kind of big-budget films that will catapult her into the company of Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman or Reese Witherspoon. They've gotten to a point where they can afford to take chances with their careers.

"I think for the most part the people in my life understand that money is not necessarily going to be a priority," McAdams said. "It's the roles themselves that I'm interested in. So, there's not a lot of talk about 'you should do this because of the dollar signs.' It's not really where it's at.

"That's not to say it's not tempting. I'd be lying to you if I said it's not something you stop and say 'What am I doing?'" she said. "But I know it's not going to make me happy. It's not going to make it worth it if you don't have the passion for the project in the first place. Making movies is tough so you need a lot more than the paycheck to sustain you."

She says she feels blessed with her career so far, which has benefited from catching a few breaks.

"There's so much that rides on timing. The fact that 'The Notebook' was released right after 'Mean Girls' and that hopefully this one will benefit being released right after 'Wedding Crashers,'" she said. "Those are things that are so beyond your control. And there's so much luck involved in that.

"I know that I'm lucky. I know that things have happened in an odd, uncharacteristic way and they've brought me to a very different place in a short period of time."

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'It' girl

What makes an 'it' girl? Four hit movies in 16 months, plus accolades from MTV and the country's teens are a good start. Here's why Rachel McAdams is one to watch:

- Earlier this week, America's teens voted her best movie actress for a drama, and rewarded her film "The Notebook" with eight awards, including best drama and best date movie. McAdams and co-star Ryan Gosling won best chemistry, best love scene and best lip lock.

- In June, McAdams got props from MTV's Movie Awards. She was named breakthrough female for her role in "Mean Girls" and took home awards for best on-screen team (for "Mean Girls") and best kiss ("The Notebook").

- She's made one hit after another since "Mean Girls" opened, appearing in four movies in less than 18 months. She followed her breakout role as queen of the plastics Regina George with a tear-jerking, steamy romance with Gosling in "The Notebook," and held her own with Frat Packers Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in "Wedding Crashers." On Friday, she comes to theaters in "Red Eye."